Niko Kovac has slammed the 'shameful' behaviour of Croatia fans for tarnishing the nation's image in Sunday's Euro 2016 qualifier with Italy.
Play was halted in both halves after flares were thrown on to the pitch from the away end at San Siro in last night's 1-1 draw with the Azzurri.
Fire crews were forced to enter the field and combat the issue in an incident that Croatia coach Kovac claims was instigated by a "small bunch of hooligans".
"I am ashamed, I already apologised to Italians, Croats are not that kind of people, we are losing our reputation because of small bunch of hooligans," he told HTV.
"If someone wants to protest over something, there are places to do that, but not the stadium, where families come, with children, and we have to fear for them."
Antonio Candreva had fired the hosts in front after 10 minutes, before Ivan Perisic levelled up five minutes later in a result that saw Kovac's side stay top of Group H on goal difference ahead of Italy.
